Oops! The Senate Just Summoned the Wrong Time Warner

By Shalini Ramachandran 

Even the Senate can't keep the two Time Warner companies straight.

Jeff Bewkes, chief executive of Time Warner Inc., still can't escape the nightmarish confusion between his company, which owns HBO, CNN and Warner Bros., and Time Warner Cable, the cable and internet provider that recently sold itself to Charter Communications Inc.

Despite striking an $85.4 billion deal with AT&T Inc. over the weekend, Mr. Bewkes was unceremoniously left out of a release from the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, which said the CEOs of both companies would testify at a hearing on the proposed deal.

The reason? The four top Republicans and Democrats leading the Senate Judiciary Committee and its antitrust subcommittee accidentally invited Time Warner Cable's former CEO Rob Marcus instead.

"Both Randall Stephenson, the CEO of AT&T, and Robert Marcus, the CEO of Time Warner, will testify," the release said. The hearing announcement was sent by Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Mike Lee and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

It's far from the first time someone has confused the two companies.

It's been a bit of a headache for AT&T and Time Warner over the last several dizzying days since they announced their megamerger. Not only have they been clobbered by opposition from politicians including Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, but many consumers have tweeted and emailed reporters at The Wall Street Journal confusing the two companies. It doesn't help that Time Warner Cable had a long history as one of the most-hated companies in America known for its poor customer service.

Senior executives at Time Warner were chuckling on Thursday afternoon as they read the antitrust committee release. For days, they have suspected that at least part of the backlash stemmed from politicians confusing Time Warner with Time Warner Cable.

Earlier this week, AT&T tried to clear up the issue in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "Time Warner Inc. should not be confused with Time Warner Cable, which is a distinct, independent company owned by Charter Communications," the filing explained. "In 2008, Time Warner and Time Warner Cable announced a complete legal and structural separation of the companies. That separation was completed in 2009, and the companies have been completely separate and independent entities ever since."

Clearly, the lawmakers haven't stayed up-to-date with their SEC filings.

The Journal earlier this year wrote about how Mr. Bewkes would like to be thought of as the "Game of Thrones" guy. But to many, he is, unfortunately, the Cable Guy.

Mr. Marcus left Time Warner Cable after the Charter deal closed.

The hearing is slated for Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. in the Judiciary Committee hearing room. The Senate better get Mr. Bewkes his invite.

--Thomas Gryta contributed to this article.

Write to Shalini Ramachandran at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2016 16:12 ET (20:12 GMT)

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